Category Archive

Are you lactose intolerant? Your problem is caused by a single mutation in a gene that means you can’t digest the sugar in milk – lactose. The rest of us without the mutation can. The exciting fact is that the gene mutation … Read More

Did you know your eyes age faster than you do – or, at least, the retina does? That’s the area at the back of the eye where images focus, and your retinal cells detect both black and white images and … Read More

Renal failure and chronic kidney disease is getting more and more common in parallel with the increase in diabetes, the leading cause of kidney failure in the world today. Pioneering Bristol researchers believe they’ve found the key to treating renal … Read More

There’s a marvellous study going on at Bristol University called Children of the 90s. As its title implies, it was set up in the early 1990s to track the health and ­development of Bristol children. The hope was some early … Read More

With so much emphasis on contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, it’s easy to forget that contact ­between family members is thought to cause approximately 70% of Covid infections. Surprising isn’t it? Then again, not so surprising when you remember lots … Read More

Would you like to check that your diet is healthy and is a good fit with your metabolism? Well, Imperial College London scientists, in ­collaboration with two universities in the US, Northwestern and Illinois, and Murdoch in Australia, have come up … Read More

Ketamine is a street drug and a very dangerous one. It’s used by vets to anaesthetise large ­animals such as horses. But that doesn’t stop people trying it. They report hallucinations like out of body and near-death experiences. So what’s going on … Read More

When I read about the stem cell treatment for diabetes from the Mayo Clinic I was reminded of an incident when I was a newly qualified doctor on A&E duty. A middle-aged lady was brought in unconscious and smelling of … Read More

No doubt about it, aspirin is a wonder drug. It’s a painkiller, an anti-inflammatory, a blood thinner and, not least, it seems to prevent cancer. A team of scientists at the Universities of Newcastle and Leeds believe a regular dose … Read More

Toxaemia of pregnancy, also known as pre-eclampsia, isn’t rare. It’s seen as an emergency in pregnancy because it can result in harm to the unborn baby and the mother too if not recognised and treated promptly. Early signs include high blood ­pressure … Read More